A statue honoring Fort Smith native and World War II hero General William O. Darby was dedicated on Saturday, the 71st anniversary of his death.

Advertisement

The statue, which was placed in Cisterna Park on Wednesday, features the brigadier general riding a 1942 Harley-Davidson, the motorcycle he used in the war.

The $200,000 statue was funded through private donations to the Darby Legacy Project.

Plaque misspelling

It didn't take long for visitors to notice an error: the word "American" in a plaque is misspelled, leaving out the "i."

Message from Cisterna

On Saturday, an ambassador of Cisterna, Italy, reached out to 40/29 News with this message: "Congratulations to the city of Fort Smith for the statue... I will inform the mayor of Cisterna and believe me, we will celebrate this."

The ambassador, Carlo Sante, was a member of a delegation that visited Fort Smith in 2012.

Fort Smith and Cisterna are sister cities due to the Gen. Darby connection. Darby's troops fought to liberate the city of Cisterna during the Battle of Cisterna, which was part of the Anzio campaign to break up German defenses in central Italy in 1944. After Darby's death in combat on April 30th, 1945, he was buried in Cisterna before being reinterred in Fort Smith in 1949.

The high school in Cisterna is named in Darby's honor.

40/29 News has made two trips to Cisterna. Craig Cannon reported from the city in 1999 while covering the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, and a 40/29 team was sent to the city in 2012.

The first Rangers

Gen. Darby was instrumental in the founding of the U.S. Army Rangers.

At the outbreak of World War II, Darby was sent to Northern Ireland to train with British Commandos. In 1942, the 1st Ranger Battalion, known as "Darby's Rangers," was sanctioned by the U.S. military.

His troops distinguished themselves in combat in North Africa in 1943.

He was awarded two Distinguished Service Crosses and three Purple Hearts. He served most of the war as a colonel, and was promoted to brigadier general posthumously in 1945.